Official Game Thread: Hawks - Suns

[Admin]

Her?

I would need to see what's behind the robe before I could make a firm decision here, if you will.

And that's what I get for being a smartass earlier and for trying to multi-task here at work!

[IheartVolt]

We're enduring one of our worst stretches of basketball in 10 years. Bud is a good coach. But Bud is also somewhat culpable in how bad we're playing right now.If he is to get credit for how hard we fight on offense, he has to get some of the blame for how we lay down on defense.

You can put lipstick on a turd , but at the end of the day it is still just a turd.

[Admin]

You can put lipstick on a turd , but at the end of the day it is still just a turd.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Schröder's new nickname needs to be Rocky, so that when he passes to Moose, we can say "Rocky to Bullwinkle". Then again, Germans can't say the word squirrel, so that might be odd to nickname him after one. lol

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Yeah, I'm on board the Tank. I can still enjoy this team losing every night, even if the defense is hopeless. As long as we keep miraculously scoring 100+ with this group, distributing the ball, hitting the three, and converting at the line, I'm good. Keep Carrolle and Scott on their incline, start Muscala off on the good foot, get Dennis' minutes up, etc.

Yep, that's the only way I'm okay with losing. As long as we are competitive. I'd lose all respect for the team if the tank become clear and evident. I also have no problem using the rest of this season to let Lou keep progressing and to develop the younger guys, Teague included.

[turnermx]

Sure the defense is in shambles right now but this team plays hard and competes on a nightly basis. I really like our future as we can build our team and improve unlike years past where we were up against the cap with players that peaked. With Bud at the helm, another years experience for our young guys and a solid free agency added, and healthy roster we can be right back at the top in short order. Contrast that to the situation Brooklyn is in and i am SO GLAD i am not a nets fan.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AHF]

The Nets have to make their run this year or next year and it doesn't look good so their situation stinks but we aren't close to the top and haven't been since 1993. Being 3 or 4 games over .500 doesn't mean you are near the top of the league just because the rest of your conference stinks. I don't see the path to greatness that we are on right now but certainly hope Ferry has some tricks up his sleeve to which I am not privy.

[turnermx]

This team would be well over .500 if stars were aligned, it just wasnt happening. Injuries devastated this team and destroyed the season. Brooklyn got hit hard with injuries too but that teams roster is so loaded with veteran talent they managed to salvage but only barely to .500 at this point. Our team has a lot of potential while they are peaked out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AHF]

My prediction before the season started was that this team's best case was being where the JJ/Josh teams went: First or Second Round playoff exit. I didn't think they had a chance to beat Miami or Indiana and still think we never did.

We were 16-13 when fully healthy this season. That pro-rates to a 45-37 record. That is very pedestrian for a playoff team.

[Admin]

My prediction before the season started was that this team's best case was being where the JJ/Josh teams went: First or Second Round playoff exit. I didn't think they had a chance to beat Miami or Indiana and still think we never did. We were 16-13 when fully healthy this season. That pro-rates to a 45-37 record. That is very pedestrian for a playoff team.

If you ignore new coach, new system, new players and expect they'd continue the same winning percentage then yeah that's 45-37. I see our team on the whole getting better as the season has gone on but a lack of depth and talent has killed us. Healthy I saw a 50 win team and a tough out in the 2nd round.

[frosgrim]

If you ignore new coach, new system, new players and expect they'd continue the same winning percentage then yeah that's 45-37. I see our team on the whole getting better as the season has gone on but a lack of depth and talent has killed us. Healthy I saw a 50 win team and a tough out in the 2nd round.

I agree. I don't think you can take the first 30 games in this case as a prediction of the last 50. Further, we have no idea what Ferry would have done at the deadline. With a health Horford this season is completely different.

This current stretch is due to too many guys playing outside of their roles.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

This team would be well over .500 if stars were aligned, it just wasnt happening. Injuries devastated this team and destroyed the season. Brooklyn got hit hard with injuries too but that teams roster is so loaded with veteran talent they managed to salvage but only barely to .500 at this point. Our team has a lot of potential while they are peaked out.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The stars were aligned though.

We played an extremely weak schedule in Nov and Dec . . . a bottom 5 schedule. January was supposed to be brutal, but we actually survived January. But we had been having problems on the road all year. So when February comes around, and we stopped playing a ton of .500 and below teams, they started to struggle. And the injuries just caused the bottom to fall out.

And unfortunately for the Hawks, the schedule really doesn't ease up until April.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Wow . . . you guys give the GM every benefit of the doubt. It's all good though. Somebody has to stay positive around here, before reality smacks all of us in the face.

[turnermx]

I know how the schedule looked then. I still feel the team was on a nice trajectory as it played well against elite teams such as the Heat, Thunder, and Pacers this season. Should have beaten the Heat twice actually. If healthy i feel strongly this team would have won 50 and gone to second round where they would have been a tough out in playoffs.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[supermariowest]

I agree. I don't think you can take the first 30 games in this case as a prediction of the last 50. Further, we have no idea what Ferry would have done at the deadline. With a health Horford this season is completely different.

This current stretch is due to too many guys playing outside of their roles.

I'd like to add that in the first 20 games of the big three Miami Heat era, the Heat went 12-8. They were still favorites to make it to the finals, sure, I'm just pointing out that even the best players in the league have to adjust to new situations.

Edit: Probably should have quoted somebody else here. I agree with you.

Edited March 4, 2014 by supermariowest

[Guest]

I know how the schedule looked then. I still feel the team was on a nice trajectory as it played well against elite teams such as the Heat, Thunder, and Pacers this season. Should have beaten the Heat twice actually. If healthy i feel strongly this team would have won 50 and gone to second round where they would have been a tough out in playoffs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They agree...............

Before the Hawks recent struggles, many analysts around the league were throwing Budenholzer’s name out as a Coach of the Year candidate.

I believe he is a good coach and he is doing the best he can given the massive injuries he has encountered, not to mention he is implementing a new system with his new team in his first year as an NBA head coach.

Basically, cut him a little bit of slack. Yes, maybe he relies on guards too much and does not throw enough size into his rotations at times. However, given the state of his team, overall I would have to give Bud a fairly high grade.

Given the intricacies of his detailed offense and how well the team has executed this high-energy motion offense so far, I would have to think Atlanta would still be third in the East if Horford, Millsap and Teague were not missing so much time due to injuries.

Grade: A-

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1979086-grading-mike-budenholzers-season-for-the-atlanta-hawks-so-far/page/7

Edited March 4, 2014 by JayBirdHawk

[GrimeyKidd]

Never too late to get healthy. Millsap and Antić back for next game i hope. Muscala with potential

[Jody23]

If the Hawks are indeed "stealth tanking", at this point the best they can hope for is securing the 15th pick in the draft (which means they'll be the playoff team with the worst record). The Pistons, Knicks and Cavs are all epic failures this year (still can't believe the Knicks are this bad) and don't seem to have it in them to make the playoffs. So, if the stealth tank is successful, I guess we'll start talking about who the Hawks will pick at 15.

[Admin]

If the Hawks are indeed "stealth tanking", at this point the best they can hope for is securing the 15th pick in the draft (which means they'll be the playoff team with the worst record). The Pistons, Knicks and Cavs are all epic failures this year (still can't believe the Knicks are this bad) and don't seem to have it in them to make the playoffs.So, if the stealth tank is successful, I guess we'll start talking about who the Hawks will pick at 15.

How do you figure that's the best we can hope for with over 20 games left? We can easily slip out of the playoffs and into the lottery with just a tiny bit of luck as we're only 3 up on Detroit and 3.5 up on Cleveland. Then who knows what can happen with the ping pong balls. One or both of those teams pass us and we're looking at the 10th-11th pick or maybe even better.

[AHF]

If you ignore new coach, new system, new players and expect they'd continue the same winning percentage then yeah that's 45-37. I see our team on the whole getting better as the season has gone on but a lack of depth and talent has killed us. Healthy I saw a 50 win team and a tough out in the 2nd round.

I think that is fair to predict a little better record. You know, just like the JJ teams had:

2009-10 53 wins

I think it is unfair to this to have expected them to give either Miami or Indiana a "tough" challenge in the second round (assuming they advanced). Indy or Miami would have handled this team with little trouble come the post-season regardless of the regular season results.

Thus, it was the same pattern as the old teams except that the old teams were much more locked into their roster than this team is. The predictability of this mediocre result is why I advocated starting Schröder and picking up a stud in the lottery rather than opting for a first or second round playoff exit like we did. It was foreseeable that we would never challenge either Miami or Indiana.

If people haven't figured out yet that having regular season success against the truly elite teams means very little in the playoffs for a team like the Hawks then bless their optimism, because it is really cute.